Relief valve and testing device



March 16, 1937. E. w. LOWE RELIEF VALVE AND TESTING DEVICE Filed July51, 1934 Patented Mar. 16, 1937 PATENT OFFICE RELIEF VALVE AND TESTINGDEVICE Earl WQLowe, Decatur, Ill., assignor to Mueller 00., Decatur,111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 31, 1934, Serial No.737,847

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to relief valves, and, particularly, avalve adapted for use in a fluid line to relieve the same upon theoccurrence of excessive pressure, and has for its objects to provide arelief valve which iiiay be unseated manually to ascertain if the valveis stuck or to relieve the pressure in the line.

In the drawing herewith is shown one form of 'the invention, but it willbe understood that the drawing is illustrative and in no senserestrictive, as the invention may be developed in various mechanicalways.

In the drawing:- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the valve,showing the same in normal seated position.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the valve, showing the valvemember lifted from its seat by the manual lifting device. I

Figure 3 is a partial vertical sectional view along the line 3-3 ofFigure 1. Referring to the drawing by numerals, like numeralsdesignating like parts throughout the several views, I 0 indicates thevalve casing, said casing comprising a body member II and a bonnet l2.The body member is composed of a lower portion I3 and a flanged portionl4, said portions being fitted together by I means of the screwthreads-shown at I 5. The lower portionl3 of the body member II isadapted to be inserted into a fluid pressure line, and when inserted, anopening I! in the body member may constitute an inlet to the bodymember, while an opening I 8 may constitute an outlet from the That is,when the body member is inserted into the fluid pressure line, the fluidwill flow through the same in its normal direction,.but maybe relievedupon the occurrence of excessive pressure in a manner which will behereinafter described.

Referring to Figure 3, it will be observed that the lower portion of thebody member has interal therewith an extension 19 which defines anoutlet or waste passage 20. The extension I9 is offset and projects frombody member at approximately right angles to the direction of the inletand outlet passages I1 and I8, and said extension-has adownward'substantially right angle bend as at 2 I, the lower end of saidextension having a screw-threaded opening 22 for the reception of theend of a discharge line to carry away the fluid which has been ventedthrough the valve.

The inner end of the waste passage extends centrally up into the bodymember as at 23, the inner end of the passage being defined y an bodymember.

the lower portion of the interior upstanding cylindrical portion 24 ofthe body member, the latter being interiorly screwthreaded to receive avalve seat 25. The fluid way 26 formed by the valve seat is normallyclosed bya valve member 28, said valve member being held upon its seatagainst the pressure in the line in a manner which will be laterdescribed.

To regulate the opening of the valve in response to pressure in thefluid line, a diaphragm 30 is provided, said diaphragm being clampedbetween the body member II and the bonnet l2 in a well-known manner. 7The diaphragm is centrally apertured to receive a hollow cup-shapedguiding sleeve 3|, said sleeve extending above the diaphragm and .beingprovided with a guiding recess 32. The valve member 28 has integraltherewith a valve stem 33 which extends into the guding recess 32. Apair of diametrically opposed openings or recesses 34 are provided inthe lower part of the guiding sleeve, said openings being adapted toreceive the ends of a pin 35, which is integral with the valve stem 33.It will be noted that the diameter of the pin 35 is substantially lessthan the diameter of the openings 34. Disposed above the valve stem andbetween the upper end of the same and the ceiling of the guiding sleeveis a secondary spring 36, which exerts pressure to normally maintain thevalve member upon its seat when the diaphragm is in the normal position.

Disposed above the diaphragm is the usual loading spring 31,. thepressure ofvwhich tends to force the diaphragm downwardly until aretaining nut 39 carried on the lower face of the diaphragm abutsagainst stop lugs 4|, the latter being integral with the bodymember anddisposed around and above the valve seat. .As shown in Figure 1, whenthe loading spring forces the diaphragm down until the retaining nut 39abuts against the stop lugs 4|, the valve stem pin 35 will be in,substantially the center of the recesses 34 in-tha guiding sleeve, andby reason of this position, the valve member will be held upon its seatsolely by the pressure of the secondary spring 36. Thus, the softpacking insert 42 of the valve member will not be distorted -as it wouldbe if it took the relatively great pressure of the loading spring.

In operation, the fluid in the line passes up into I the valve bodymember and'between the stop lugs 4| and contacts the lower surface ofthe dia phragm. When minor fluctuations of pressure occur in the line,the diaphragm, by reason of the lost motion connection with the valvestem, may move upwardly a slight distance without carrying the valvemember from its seat. However, when a sustained high pressure occurs,the lost motion will be taken up and the valve member will be removedfrom its seat against the pressure of the loading spring 31.

A valve of the above description and operation is described and claimedin the copending application of James M. Wilkins for a Relief valve,Serial No. 722,577, filed April 26, 1934, and the present inventionrelates to improvements for a valve of this character as set forth indetail below.

In order to ascertain if the valve member has become stuck to its seat,or to provide a convenient means for venting the fluid line by hand, avalve actuating pin 43 is centrally disposed within the waste passage 23of the lower body member, said pin being loosely and slidably carriedwithin a bearing aperture 44 which'extends through the bottom of saidpassage, the outer end of the pin extending outside of the casing. Inorder that the pin may be properly supported against lateral movement,so that it will be retained centrally below the valve member, the

lower wall of the waste passage is thickened interiorly to form a ledgeM, so that the bearing aperture 44 will be relatively extensive inlength. The upper portion of the valve actuated pin is of greaterdiameter than the lower portion, and where these portions meet, ashoulder A5 is formed, said-shoulder resting upon the ledge 44' whenthevalve is seated, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. The valve actuating pin isof such length that when it has been restored by gravity to the positionof Figures 1 and 3, the upper end of the pin will be a sufiicientdistance below the lower surface of the valve member so that there willbe no possibility of the latter being prevented from firmly engaging itsseat. The upper end of the valve actuating pin is provided with aconcave engaging surface 41, this surface being semi-spherical in shapeand being adapted for engagement with the convex surface of a screw 48which is threaded into the lower end of the valve member, said screwconstituting the valve member engaging surface. The spherical surfaces41 and 48 are concentric, so that when the valve actuating pin ismanually pressed upwardly, the engagement of the concentric-sphericalsurfaces will insure that the force is applied at the exact center ofthe valve member, this being desirable in order that there may be nolateral forces which might tend to raise the valve from its seat on oneside, while allowing it to remain stuck to the seat'on the other side.While I have shown the engaging surface of the valve actuating pin asbeing concave, and the engagingsurface of the valve member as beingconvex, it is obvious that this arrangement might be reversed.

On the bottom of the body member adjacent to the outside extension ofthe valve actuating pin, a ledge 50 is provided. This ledge is used tofacilitate the hand operation of the valve by serving as a fulcrum uponwhich a suitable lever such as a screw driver may be rested, in themanner shown in Figure 3. By this construction, and when the end of thelever is fulcrumed on the ledge 50, the valve actuating pin may beelevated until the surface 41 engages the surface 48, after whichfurther movement will lift the valve from its seat. It will be notedthat by reason of the lost motion connection between the valve stem andthe guiding sleeve, only sufficient pressure need be exerted upwardlyagainst the lower end of the valve actuating pin to overcome thepressure of the secondary spring 36, and the limited movement of thevalve stem upwardly against the pressure of the secondary spring untilthe lost motion is taken up will be sufiicient to test the valve.However, if it is desired to quickly vent the line by hand, sufficientpressure exerted on the lower end of the valve actuating pin will liftthe valve member and the diaphragm against the loading spring to morecompletely open the fluid way 26 leading into the waste chamber 23.

When the manual pressure is released from beneath the valve actuatingpin, the latter will return to the normal position shown in Figure 1, byreason of the force of the secondary spring 36, and by gravity.

It wil be apparent that this invention affords a convenient arrangementfor testing valves of this character, and that the constructionprecludes the possibility of the hand releasing means jamming andholding the valve in open position. That is, due to the simplicity ofthe construction and the absence of any connected external mechanisms tolift the valve actuating pin, there is no danger of mis-operation of thesame which might result in retaining the valve actuating pin in itselevated position, thus jamming the valve open. For the same reasons,there is little likelihood of an inexperienced person tampering with thehand release arrangement. Furthermore, due to, the fact that the handrelease mechanism will remain in operation only when an attendant ispresent holding the valve actuating pin in elevated position, there isno possibility of the valve remaining off its seat after the attendanthas departed.

Such departure from the construction herein disclosed as amounts only tomechanical skill, may be made without departing from the range of theinvention.

I claim:

A relief valve including a casing having a fluid inlet and a wastepassage, a valve for said passage, a normally closed valve member forsaid seat controlling the waste passage, a fluid pressure actuateddiaphragm in said casing to open the valve on increase of pressure, aloading spring for urging said diaphragm to close said valve againstfluid pressure in said casing, a guiding sleeve for said valve includedin said diaphragm, said valve being mounted for limited movement withrespect to said diaphragm within said sleeve, diaphragm arresting meanson said casing adjacent said valve seat for limiting movement of saiddiaphragm under pressure of said loading spring, and an externallyoperable reciprocative valve actuating pin extending into said casing toengage said valve member to lift it from its seat without moving saiddiaphragm from said arresting means.

EARL W. LOWE.

